Posts Tagged ‘Wedding’

With more than 200 in attendance from both the Legal and Rabbinic worlds, Tzohar and The Israel Bar Association launched the new Prenuptial Agreement to protect and assist the future of Jewish marriage.

The agreement, spearheaded by the Religious Zionist Rabbinic organization, gives the soon to be married couple an extra sense of security in the event of divorce, working to limit the distress and pain suffered by the refusal of giving or receiving a religious divorce, a Get. The agreement meets the requirements of Israeli law and policy according to the legal courts as well as Jewish law and halacha.

While other individuals and organizations have raised the issue, Tzohar is uniquely positioned to push it to widespread use and implementation. With a vast network of Rabbis all over Israel and as one of the main facilitators of marriages in Israel, Tzohar’s reach and influence can change the perspective of newlyweds and help save families from the potential pain and devastation of chained marriages.

“No one deserves to stay chained in a terrible marriage with a knife at their throat,” said Rabbi David Stav, Chairman of Tzohar. “This agreement can and should become the norm in Israeli society to ensure that the end of a marriage and separating from your partner be treated with respect and dignity.”

“If this agreement was available to me a few years ago, my life’s story would likely have been very different,” said Dorit Stern, who was refused a religious divorce for six years. “A person who is in this situation is stuck – can’t move on, can’t get married, can’t have children. The solution to this problem exists and I’m so glad that someone finally is standing up and working to do something about it.”

“It took us six years and 16 versions to finalize it,” said Rabbi Elisha Aviner. “We created an agreement where stage one is to try and save the marriage in the event that one of the parties wants to. Only after that process is explored is the decision to activate the terms of legally binding agreement decided upon. Our dream is that the agreement will never need to be used, but if it does, it should help provide for a fair process of separation. “

“I wasn’t sure if I should take part in this initiative, but after checking and seeing what it is all about, I saw that it was the best way to prevent the situation of agunot,” said Rabbi Aryeh Stern, chief Rabbi of Jerusalem. “This is something very important for the Jewish family.”

“With the launch of this new historic agreement, we hope to make the lives of newlyweds better and more meaningful, so that if, God forbid, the marriage breaks up, it will be done in a fair and respectful manner,” concluded Rabbi Rafi Feuerstein, one of the founders of Tzohar.

The rockets falling across Israel in the past days have caused disturbances and hindrance in all facets of life; camps were closed, events cancelled and the economy disrupted.

One of the restrictions imposed by the Home Front Command following the dangerous security situation is that large gatherings are prohibited in the south; for couples who are supposed to get married, this is a real blow.

A group of volunteers have identified this problem and have decided to provide a solution. Working through Facebook, ‘Color White’ (a play on the ‘Color Red’ code sounded when rockets fall) connects between couples who are forced to cancel their wedding and providers of wedding services who are willing to help the beleaguered residents of the south.

The initiators of this life-saving enterprise are two women, Tal Maor-Zingerman, a graphic artist, and Hadar Melamed-Richter, an architect. Seeing many couples in distress, they decided to act. They both have a blog on the wedding fashion scene; having vast connection in the wedding business, they decided to offer their services.

The group is well experienced, having operated during Operation ‘Pillar of Defense’ in 2012. Tal explained that the level of stress is currently higher than usual: “It’s the wedding season now, and almost all the halls are already booked.” The group connects the couples in distress with a full wedding package, including providers who are offering substantial discounts to couple fleeing the missiles in the south. Tal shares that people are even offering their own homes as bride salons. They are constantly receiving calls from tens of brides and providers who want to help.

In light of the recent attacks and heavy bombing on Southern Israel, the nonprofit “Chasdei Naomi”, who are usually involved in assisting the less fortunate in society, announced they have opened their six wedding halls, “Armonot Chen”, in Beni Brak and Jerusalem, free of charge to residents from the South whose weddings were postponed. In addition to the halls, the organization has offered to assist in wedding planning at their Jerusalem location and offer logistic equipment and assistance in updating their guests on the event changes in all their locations. The organization has previously opened their doors during Operation ‘Pillar of Defense’ and assisted three couples to get married then.

“My family is from Ashkelon, and so I have been living this situation for years. I know what people feel. We are sure to stand by whoever needs anything. During the last operation we’ve helped dozens of couples get married on time, despite the chaos around,” says Tal. “It is important for me to emphasize that all those who involved are volunteers, and I have no words to thank them for joined us. We invite any couple in distress to contact us,” concludes Tal.

I don’t know who this Chatan and Kallah (bride and groom) are, but under their marriage Chupah they prayed for the 3 kidnapped boys, Eyal Yifrach, Naftali Fraenkel and Gilad Shaar, to be returned home safely, as well as for the soldiers looking for them.

The Shas party is probably not as unified over voting in a specific presidential candidate for president as some might believe. It’s probably not unified at all.

On Monday night, Shas MK Eli Yishai and Likud president-hopeful MK Ruby Rivlin were seen sitting side-by-side at a wedding for the grandson of former Chief Rabbi, Rav Shlomo Amar.

In fact, except for Shas leader Aryeh Deri and Ariel Attias, all the Shas MKs showed up, despite the tremendous pressure placed on them not to go to the wedding.

The battle behind the scenes is over who is spiritual heir to former Shas founder Rav Ovadia Yosef and of Sephardim in general. Most Sephardim appear to be leaning towards Rav Shlomo Amar, who is considered a halachic genius and successful chief rabbi. Aryeh Deri sees Rav Amar as a political threat to his Sephardic hegemony.

At one point Rav Amar blessed Eli Yishai, who Deri had deposed as party head, saying, “May all your enemies fall before you, and may you be raised up, and succeed in all your undertakings.”

In practical terms, Shas, under Aryeh Deri, is more likely to be ordered to cast a vote for Dalia Itzik than for Ruby Rivlin. But as the vote for president is done by secret ballot, we’re more likely to see Yishai’s faction within Shas voting for Ruby Rivlin.

Among other guests who made an appearance were the two current chief rabbis, one of whom is related through marriage to Rav Amar, former chief rabbis, judges, both Ashkenaz and Sephardi yeshiva heads, as well as Jerusalem mayor Nir Barkat who sported a fashionable knitted Kipa.

If weddings parties were coronations, then Rav Amar would be king.

And despite all the attention his grandfather was getting, the Chatan (groom) clearly enjoyed the wedding too.

There’s more to being a Jewish man than one might think. It can be quite dangerous, in fact.

Take the issue involving a Jewish man stamping on a glass (sometimes wrapped in an elegant cloth napkin) at the end of his wedding vows, for instance.

The ritual is intended to remind those attending that even at moments of soaring joy, one must remember the destruction of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem and pray for its return.

But one chatan (bridegroom) now has a warning for future husbands-to-be: be careful when you stomp your glass.

The unnamed chatan cut his foot when he smashed the glass under the chuppah (wedding canopy) at a banquet hall on Rehov Tzfira in Tel Aviv recently.

Hatzolah Emergency Response medic Yehuda Hildeshaim, who was on the scene, treated the injured bridegroom on site. The medic, who said the foot was gashed quite deeply, added that the groom decided he would not go to the hospital until after the rest of the wedding celebrations had concluded.